Ashes of humanity
by lastdraft
Summary: When something happens to Damon menacing to expose him and his brother, Elena and Stefan have to make a decision to keep the town from finding out that they are vampires. Even if it means risking Damon's life.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Something happens to Damon menacing to expose him and his brother. Elena and Stefan have make a decision to keep the town from finding they are vampires.

Author's note: This is my first story and English is not my native language so I apologize for the grammar and other mistakes. I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

**Ashes of humanity**

"Are you ready?" Stefan asked as he walked down the stairs of the boarding house. Damon was sitting on the couch in the parlor, a glass of Scotch in his hand. He looked at his brother nonchalantly.

"Who said I was going?"

"You did." Stefan answered slightly annoyed.

"That was a long time ago, I've changed my mind" Damon said taking a sip of his drink. Stefan was now standing in front of him, arms crossed and looking down at him puzzled.

"That was an HOUR ago! And you're the one who said that we have to blend" The oldest Salvatore was about to argue, but he was cut by his brother "And don't you tell me that you said that months ago because I clearly remember you saying it last week when you were hooking up with that girl at the bar." After a few seconds of staring contest Damon rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Fine! I'll go." He groaned, as he put on his jacket "I still don't understand why the mayor's wife felt the need to have a birthday party, it's not like she's getting younger or anything"

It was Stefan's turn to roll his eyes "Could we just go, please? I told Elena that we'll meet her at the Lockwood mansion in ten minutes"

"What are you waiting for? we don't have all day" Damon teased while opening to the door in vampire speed.

Damon took his time to drive to the mansion, not very impatient to arrive, which, of course irritated Stefan who menaced to get out of the car a couple times. When they finally drove down the huge driveway, several cars were already parked. Damon hadn't even turned off the engine that his brother was already inside.

"Mr. Salvatore, I'm glad you came!" Damon faked a smile and turned to face the sheriff Forbes.

"Sheriff! well, I'm glad I came too, you look gorgeous." He said. She turned red for a few seconds and became serious again.

"Lots of people are attending this party and we can't take any risks." Damon looked at her suspiciously as she continued "Some of my men are here" she pointed at the guards standing at the door. "we have no evidence that vampires are in town, but I prefer to be prudent, so I want you to take this" she handed him a gun, looking around to make sure that no one was watching.

"It's loaded with wooden bullets." Damon quickly took the gun and hid it under his jacket. He kept a straight face as he spoke.

"I understand your concern, and I will keep my eyes open." She smiled gratefully.

"Thank you Damon, I knew I could count on you" Damon contemplated the irony as he held his arm to the sheriff and escorted her to the entry. They were greeted by Mrs. Lockwood and after exchanging a few polite words, Damon made his way to the bar and ordered a glass of Bourbon. He found Alaric sitting on a booth and starring at his drink.

"Hey Ric, having fun?" He asked smirking. Alaric glared at him. "looks like it" Damon said in a sarcastic tone. "Where's your date? don't tell me that you came alone."

"Jenna's with Elena. What do you want Damon?"

"Nothing, can't a guy talk with his friend while drinking alcohol and reminisce the past?" Alaric clenched his jaw.

"First of all, I am not your friend, second, your past includes you turning my wife into a vampire, and third, I'm out of here" he stood up and walked away, disappearing into the crowd and leaving Damon alone.

An hour and seven drinks later, Damon was getting bored, and he didn't do bored, so he decided to find Elena and piss off his brother. As he stood up, he steadied himself to stop the room from spinning and headed outside. On his way, he was stopped by a man.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

"To get some fresh air. Why you wanna dance?" Damon asked sarcastically.

The man didn't seem to find it funny and looked at Damon in the eyes.

"I heard your conversation, that guy said that you turned his wife" It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Damon was about to deny, but that's when he heard a gunshot followed by a sharp pain in his stomach. A cry of pain escaped his lips as he looked down and saw the blood staining his shirt. He fell on his knees and finally noticed all the frightened faces starring at him.

"Oh my god, someone call an ambulance!" a woman yelled.

**Reviews are love!**


	2. Chapter 2

Elena and Stefan were outside talking with Bonnie when they heard the gunshot. The three of them looked at each other before Stefan ran inside the Lockwood Mansion.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his brother on the floor and a deputy pointing a gun at his head. But that was not the main problem, he knew his brother wouldn't die from a wooden bullet in the stomach. His biggest concern was the crowd forming around them with frightened looks on their faces. The room was deadly calm until a voice broke the silence.

"Oh my god, someone call an ambulance!"

Stefan had to do something, there was no way he could let the paramedics check his brother.

"Stefan, what's…" Elena put a hand on her mouth.

"Elena we have to get him out of here, an ambulance is probably already on its way"

Carol Lockwood and Sheriff Forbes ran toward the deputy that was standing over Damon. After exchanging a few words, they both carried Damon out of the room leaving Mrs Lockwood alone.

"Alright people, I am sorry for this…" she paused for a while "…incident, sadly we are going to have to call it a day. Thank you so much to everyone for coming and again, I am really sorry. Everything is being taken care of, so go home and have no worries." she had an apologetic look on her face as whispers could be heard from the crowd slowly heading toward the exit.

Stefan, Elena and Bonnie rushed toward the door where they had last seen the sheriff take Damon.

They entered a huge office with a leather couch, a desk and a fireplace dominating the room. He spotted Damon being tied by a deputy to one of the chairs near the desk, while another one was injecting him with vervain.

"Sheriff what's going on?" Stefan asked. He didn't know exactly how much she knew about he and his brother so he decided to play dumb.

"I'm pretty sure that you know the answer already, and I bet that you are one too" She said pointing a gun at him.

Stefan raised his hands up and took a few steps closer to the sheriff, leaving Elena and Bonnie behind him.

"listen, I have no idea what you're talking about but-"

"cut the crap off Stefan, I know that your brother's a vampire, Gordon heard his conversation with Alaric" she said looking toward the guard on her left who was now pointing a gun at the unconscious vampire.

"Bonnie, we have to do something!" Elena whispered as she looked into the witch's green eyes.

"like what? it's not like Stefan or Caroline can use mind compulsion on them they've probably been ingesting vervain, and half the town saw Damon get shot. There's no way we could come up with a good explanation, unless we can prove…"

"prove what?" Elena urged her to continue.

"…unless we can prove that he's human."

Elena looked at her confused "yes, but he's not. How are we going to…" she then realized what her friend meant "is there spell that could turn him human?" she asked hopeful.

"there is a temporary spell, but it's way too dangerous, no one ever survived" She replied.

"At this point we have to take this risk! they're about to kill him at least he'd have a chance" She looked so helpless.

"I don't know Elena, I'm not strong enough" She said apologetically.

"please Bonnie, you have to try! It's not just Damon that we're talking about, Stefan's in danger too" Elena begged. Her brown eyes filled with tears. Bonnie rapidly looked at the scene taking place in front of her and nodded.

"Alright, I'll try" She concentrated to remember the spell and as she closed her eyes she began chanting. After a few seconds she opened her eyes.

"Did it work?" Elena asked looking at Damon's lifeless body.

"I think it did. Look Damon's waking up"

"if the spell worked it probably means that the vervain's not working on him anymore"

"Look sheriff I don't know what you heard, but my brother is not a vampire" Stefan tried to convince her.

"stop lying to me, he reacted to the vervain"

_Damn _Stefan thought. That was it. they were going to kill his brother and he'll probably be next on the list. He looked at Damon and realized that he regaining consciousness. He wondered how that was possible, he was strong but there was no way he'd wake up after only a few minutes.

"I'm sorry Damon I really liked you" Liz said pointing the barrel at his heart.

"WAIT!" Elena cried.


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so sorry that it took me so long to update, College kicked my butt. I promise that I'll update this story at least once a week from now on, if you guys are still interested about it of course.**

_"I'm sorry Damon I really liked you" Liz said pointing the barrel at his heart._

_"WAIT!" Elena cried._

The sheriff was about to pull the trigger when she was interrupted by Elena's plea. She looked at her incredulous.

"He is a monster, Elena. I know that he is your friend, but he must be killed, or people are going to get hurt because of him"

All eyes were on Elena now. "He is not a vampire, check by yourself" she said looking towards a very confused Damon.

"How do you know about vampires?" Sheriff Forbes asked half shocked, half suspicious.

"I'm a Gilbert." Was her simple answer as she continued "Damon was probably unconscious because of his wound, not the vervain"

"Do you really think I am going to believe that?" Liz asked.

Bonnie saw the distress in Elena's eyes and decided to step up. "Will you give us a chance to prove you that he is not a vampire?"

Caroline's mom took a few seconds to think about it. She looked at Damon, face was contorted in pain and fighting consciousness. What if she was wrong? what if the man that had become his friend and helped her many times was, was, in fact human? She would never forgive herself.

"Alright, show me."

Carefully, Bonnie moved to the desk to take the letter opener that was sitting there, and walked towards damon while keeping eye contact with the sheriff.

In the mean time, Stefan who had been silent all this time looked at Elena incredulous.

_"what are you doing?"_ he mouthed to her.

_"trust me"_ Elena mouthed back, a reassuring smile on her face.

Stefan had no choice but to trust her. He looked back at Bonnie, and saw the young witch cutting Damon's left forearm with the letter opener. Blood started oozing from the wound as Damon, still barely conscious didn't even seem to notice. He couldn't believe what he saw.

"it…it isn't healing" Liz looked with horror as more blood fell onto the already blood stained shirt. She checked his arm, as if to make sure that it was real, and did not thing twice before untying the now unconscious man. Elena and Stefan rushed to help her lay him on the floor Just as four paramedics entered the room.

"Someone called about a man being shot, whereas he?" The tallest of the group asked.

"Over here" Elena called as Stefan Bonnie and the sheriff moved out of the way. In no time, the paramedics were at his side. One of them opened his shirt to reveal his bare chest and tried to stop the bleeding.

"I can barely feel his pulse, we have to get him to the ER now!" the youngest, probably in his thirties, said. They hurried as they placed him on a gurney and hooked him up to an IV.

"We're good, let's go" As they were wheeling out of the house, Elena and Stefan followed them.

"Can we come with you?" He asked as three of the paramedics placed the gurney in the ambulance, and the fourth one sat behind the wheel.

"Yes, but there's only room for one. You need to decide quickly" the youngest said.

Elena looked at Stefan "you go with him, I'll take my car and follow you" he opened his mouth to talk, but she knew what he wanted to say and cut him out "I'll explain everything to you later, I promise"

He nodded and kissed her on the forehead before getting into the ambulance.

As the doors closed, Elena ran to her car and drove to the Mystic Falls Hospital.

Inside the ambulance, Stefan was still trying to understand how Damon could be human as he was watching helplessly while the paramedics were treating his brother. He knew that Bonnie probably had to do something with that. His thoughts were shortly interrupted when he heard the regular beep of the heart monitor turning into one single sound.

"WE'RE LOSING HIM!"

**TBC…**

**Again, I apologize for taking so long to update. Should I continue, or are you not interested into this story anymore? Your reviews are very important to me.**


	4. Chapter 4

**As I said, here's the new chapter. I hope You'll Enjoy it!**

"WE'RE LOSING HIM!"

Stefan couldn't move. Damon Salvatore, his big brother, once his best friend, and until a few months back, his worst enemy was now looking so…broken. Seeing him laying there, unconscious with paramedics trying to revive him was a sight he never though he would see one day. Not just because they were vampires, but also because for him, Damon had always been the strongest one. If someone had told Stefan that one of them would get shot, turn human and struggle for his life, he would have never guessed that it would be his brother. He was lost in his thoughts and hadn't noticed that the ambulance had stopped until someone pushed him.

"move out of the way, son" an older woman said to him, as she pulled the gurney out while her colleague was pushing the other end. He barely had time to move aside to leave them room to work quickly as they took his brother inside the hospital. He jumped out of the ambulance and followed them trying to keep up. He heard the paramedics give informations about Damon to the doctors. Although they were using medical terms, he was pretty sure that what they were saying was not good. He tried to follow them but someone put a restraining hand on his chest to prevent him to go further.

"sorry you can't go there, kid" A doctor said. he nodded and stepped away.

"What's your friend's name?" He was a little taller than him and, although he probably was in his late thirties, looked very old and tired.

"his…his name is Damon Salvatore, I'm his brother, Stefan" he tried to stay calm as he asked him a few more questions.

"how old is your brother?"

well, technically, he is 169 because he was turned into a vampire because of me a century and a half ago.

"he is twenty five"

"is he allergic to any medication?

"I don't think so" He really had no idea. In the 19th century they didn't have all the medicine that they have now. The man noted the informations and put his pen in the pocket of his white blouse.

"alright Stefan, thank you for your help. We're doing the best we can to help your brother, someone will come to update you as soon as possible" He gently patted Stefan's shoulder and left behind the same door he had last seen Damon.

"Stefan!" He turned around and saw Elena, half walking, half running to him. "how is he?"

"I don't know, his heart stopped in the ambulance and they took him away as soon as we got here" he explained feeling helpless.

"oh my god!" she put her hand over her mouth, tears filling up her eyes. "this is my fault, I begged Bonnie to do that spell. If I hadn't…" Stefan cut her

"…If you hadn't asked her to, Sheriff Forbes would have killed him. At least you gave him a chance!" he lifted up her chin with his right hand so they were looking into each other's eyes "do you understand?" She nodded and put her hands around him to hug him, her head buried in his chest.

They had been sitting in the waiting room for over an hour, when Bonnie arrived. After exchanging a few words on the situation, she explained them about the spell.

"I saw it in one of Grams books. There was practically no chance that it'll work"

"Elena said that the spell is temporary, how long is it supposed to last?"

"It could be a week like it could be a month, there's no way to tell."

"you told me that no one ever survived. Were you talking about the witches or the vampires?" Elena whispered the last few words so no one else could hear them.

"both" Bonnie answered "it's a very powerful and draining spell for both. But for some reason it worked. I think that when Jonas died, he gave me back my powers and something more"

"what do you mean?" Stefan asked

"I don't really know, I just feel stronger" Elena couldn't really tell if it was fear or excitement in Bonnie's eyes, all she knew was that her best friend had risked her life to help Damon.

"Bonnie, I hadn't had the chance to thank you for helping Damon. You knew that it would kill you, but you still did it" Before Bonnie had the time to add that she had done it for Elena and Stefan, and no one else, she heard a man speak.

"family of Damon Salvatore?"

TBC…

Did you like this chapter? Next one will have a very sorry Liz and we'll know Damon's fate. Please tell me what you like, don't like or would like to see in this story :)


	5. Chapter 5

_"family of Damon Salvatore?"_

Elena Stefan and Bonnie turned to face the man.

"I'm his brother" Stefan said.

"I'm Damon's surgeon, doctor McCoy" like the previous doctor, he looked old and tired. But that was probably because he was around fifty, the wrinkles on his forehead and his grey hair gave it away.

"are your parents on their way? I would like to talk to an adult if that's possible"

"I'm his only family, our parents died…a long time ago" which, technically was the truth.

"alright, then. when your brother came in, his heart had stopped beating, but we managed to stabilize him. He had lost a lot of blood due to the bullet wound, but it didn't touch any vital organs. Right now he is recovering from surgery, but you will be able to see him when he is moved to his room" Somehow, while the surgeon was speaking, Elena's hand had found Stefan's without him noticing.

"So, he is going to be alright?" Elena asked incapable of hiding her joy.

"we are going to keep him under observation for a couple of days to make sure that everything goes well, but yes, he is going to be alright. He is a very lucky man."

"thank you so much" Stefan said sincerely. The doctor nodded but he crossed his brows while looking at his files.

"There is something weird, though" he looked at Stefan straight in the eyes "when I took out the bullet, I was surprised to see that it was a wooden one." All of the sudden the room seemed awfully calm. The three of them looked at each other trying to find a believable answer, but miserably failing at it.

"my men and I are using them as an experiment. They are supposedly faster and more precise" All four people including the surgeon looked surprisedly in the direction the voice had came from. It was the Sheriff Forbes. She was now wearing her uniform and was walking towards the small group of people.

"Since a firearm was involved, you will have to fill out forms but don't worry, I will have someone explain everything to you" he politely saluted everyone and left the waiting room.

"I guess I'll just head home, call me when you've got news about Damon" Bonnie said as she hugged Elena and Stefan.

"okay, thank you, Bonnie" He looked her in the eyes and she understood what he meant. She gently squeezed his arm and left.

"I know I'm the last person you want to see right now, but I came to apologize" Liz was now facing Elena and Stefan.

"you don't need to apologize sheriff, you did what you thought was the right thing to protect everyone. I completely understand and I'm sure that my brother will too"

"I hope so. I feel terrible, Damon was my friend" she said with guilt and remorse.

"And he'll still be your friend, Liz. He would have probably done the same thing as you did" Elena said, placing a comforting hand on the woman's arm.

"I overheard your conversation with his doctor. I'll make sure that Damon is moved to a comfortable room. I'll go talk to him about what happened, you kids don't have to worry about about the paperwork"

"you don't have to do this really it's-"

"please, I insist. It's the least I can do" They both thanked her as she left the room.

"that was awkward" Elena said after making sure that she couldn't hear them.

"I understand why Bonnie left so fast" Stefan said, laughing.

"I don't know how Damon will react about this whole situation" Elena said seriously. She hoped that he wouldn't go into a killing spree and murder the sheriff and all the members of the council as soon as he turned back into a vampire. Stefan shrugged and they both sat down.

"right now, it's the least we have to worry about. He's going to freak out when he wakes up and realizes that he's human" Elena hadn't thought about that. She had heard Damon talk to Jenna about his past, back when he was still human, and that night she felt regret and nostalgia in his voice. But with Damon she was never sure, at the time it could have been one of his act to try and make small talk with his aunt so she would like him.

But what worried Elena more than Damon's reaction, was hers. What had happened today affected her more than she'll ever admit to anyone. When the doctor told them that Damon would be okay, she felt so much joy that she had to contain herself not to jump up and down and hug the man. She shouldn't feel like that, not towards her boyfriend's brother, not towards the guy who, only a few months back murdered her brother coldly and killed people just for the fun of it. As much as she wanted to hate him and not care about him, something inside of her made it impossible for Elena to to do so. And it scared her to find out what this "something" was.

They were both sitting in silence for what felt like hours, until a nurse came in and told them to follow her to Damon's room. They walked down the hallway and passed numerous rooms before they stopped. The door was closed and the woman slowly opened it. Elena stopped breathing when she saw Damon's form on the bed. He looked so small and innocent next to all those machines that she barely recognized him. She looked at Stefan and could tell that he was thinking the same.

"Don't worry, I know it looks impressive but it's just to make sure that everything is going well. It shouldn't be long before he wakes up now" The nurse said, a reassuring smile on her face "you can sit over there and make yourselves comfortable" she told them, pointing to a couple of chairs next to the window. They thanked her and she left the room.

They slowly walked towards the bed. His face was pale and his eyes were closed peacefully. The steady breathing of Damon's chest raising up and down was the only confirmation that he was alive.

"I hate to say it, but I'd actually prefer to hear his sarcastic remarks rather than this silence right now" Stefan admitted.

"me too." She took a seat on one of the chairs as she continued to watch him sleep and eventually dozed off.

Elena was awakened by something, she opened her eyes and saw Stefan sleeping on the chair next to her. It took her a few seconds until she realized when she was, and almost instantly looked on her left to where Damon was laying. She saw him stirring in his sleep and could tell that he was about to wake up.

"Stefan" she lightly tapped his arm, stood up and walked the few steps separating her from the bed. She felt Stefan's body next to hers and they both watched as Damon tried to open his eyes. After a few seconds he managed to do so, and Elena had never felt more happy to see those icy blue eyes.

"hey Damon, how are you feeling?" Stefan asked. The eldest Salvatore looked at his surroundings and finally spoke.

"Wh-…who are you?"

**TBC…**

**I know, I'm evil. Did you like this chapter? Some of you pointed out the fact that Damon missed being human. I've got to admit that when I watched this episode it gave me ideas for this fic. I know where it's going, but I'd like to hear your opinion and thoughts about the story so far :) **


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